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There is No Place Like Home... and Dorothy's Ruby Slippers | APPAM Leadership Blog Series

Having spent my childhood in Kansas, I’m all about Dorothy’s ruby slippers. There is in fact no place like home, and I’m proud to call APPAM my professional home for the past three plus decades. This will be APPAM’s 40th research conference—our ruby anniversary. Never has rigorous policy evidence been more important. We must continue to attract and support young professionals to grow and improve our field.

The Role of Contraception in Preventing Abortion, Nonmarital Childbearing, and Child Poverty

April 14, 2014 10:00 AM

This week's featured paper from our Online Paper Collection is by Quentin Karpilow, Brookings Institution; Jennifer Manlove, Child Trends; Isabel Sawhill, Brookings Institution; and Adam Thomas, Georgetown University. The Role of Contraception in Preventing Abortion, Nonmarital Childbearing, and Child Poverty was presented at the session Strategies for Preventing Teen Pregnancy at the 2013 Fall Research Conference.

The authors simulate the effects of changes in contraceptive bhavior among unmarried young women and men on rates of nonmarital childbearing, abortion, and child poverty. These simluations are motivated by previous studies showing, first, that disadvantaged women are disproportionately likely to experience unplanned and nonmarital pregnancies. Secondly, many individuals at risk of unintended pregnancy do not use contraception or do not use it consitently and correctly.

The authors concluded that increases in contraceptive use among non-contraceptors and improvements in the consistency and correctness of contraceptive use among existing contraceptors both represent promising and potentially cost-effective avenues for reducing the incidences of abortion, nonmarital childbearing, and child poverty.